TCRNEL

aT

Nick Hogg

 

Argentosoma

An anime that takes place in North
America isn’t commonplace at all, and this
one comes complete with references to
places we all know. Okay, so maybe that’s
not that big of a deal, but what is a huge
deal are the building-sized aliens that are
basically invading earth. I say “basically”
because they land on earth and head in a

straight line towards a place called

Pilgrimage point. I get the feeling I’m
going to have to watch most of the series
to find out what, exactly, will be found at
this point.

Since this series was just dropped on
my lap, I don’t know much about its
Japanese origins, but I would peg the pro-
duction date at about 2001. The transfer is
done nearly flawlessly in its full-screen
beauty, the colours are vibrant, and the
explosions look really good. The audio is
done with a full sound 2.0-channel mix

for both the English and Japanese voice

BChOner § 20/a00

tracks. The English voice dub was done
particularly well, not only because of the
quality of the acting, but also because it
just sounds more correct when people
who should have accents do. The extras
were the usually slim Bandai affair, the
clean open and clean close, as per anime
law 85B, sub-section 5C, and a round of
production sketches. I think I’ve pretty
much come to the point where I don’t
exactly care about the extras unless they’re
really phenomenal, or unless I really like
the opening animation and need to re-
watch it.

Sure, aliens are invading earth, but
since they aren’t exactly going out of their
way to blow up national monuments, they
aren’t as much of an everyday concern to
most people. One of these people is
Takuto Kaneshiro, who’s a brilliant metal-
lurgist and is just about to patent a new
metal—life is looking good for Takuto.
Well, except for the fact that all Takuto
has been doing is fighting with his girl-
and she
apparently disappeared about two weeks

friend for the past month,

ago while working on some mysterious
research project. This is when Takuto gets

 

an email from his girlfriend, asking him to
assist on this project called Morgue. The
interesting part is that the project is an
experimental plan to reawaken an alien
they call frank that’s made from various
parts of other aliens. And, like any good
experiment to bring stuff to life, it goes
wrong. Takuto’s girlfriend is killed, and
Takuto is the only survivor of the inci-
dent. He swears revenge on Frank, the
alien mishmash, but because he’s lying
nearly dead in a hospital bed, he has no
way to act.

That’s when a guy with a goatee and a

white suit makes a deal to give Takuto the
means he needs to get revenge in
exchange for some favours. So when
faced with two choices, wait to die, or
make a deal with a weird guy who’s always
carrying an apple and quoting A Mid-sum-
mer Nights Dream, it’s an easy call. He’s
then reborn as Ryo Soma, a very bitter
second lieutenant, who just got trans-
ferred to fight aliens in a place called
Funeral. Yeah, I know, from Morgue to
Funeral—what a natural progression for
Mr. Soma to make.

Finally all the conflict generates from
the fact that Funeral wants to continue to
use the recently captured Frank as a
weapon. It gets a little weird to follow
here, and I’m barely four episodes into the
series. ve never been more stumped on
where exactly the story is going to head—

not that the ride won’t be enjoyable along
the way.

So is Argentosoma worth checking out?
It is definitely worth a play, but only if
you're going for the whole ride and you
really like paying attention to the little
details. The plot works well, but there are
so many unknowns creating questions in
the back of your head (like who exactly is
that weird dude with the apple, and why
exactly do the aliens want to go to
Pilgrimage point?). I think it’s going to
shape up into a great series, and my
review barely does it justice by just
scratching the surface of this deep and
rich plot.

 

 

  

Karen Ng, MSS Public Relations

On Thursday, October 7 the
Marketing Student Society of
Douglas College and the Student
Marketing Association of Simon
Fraser University hosted the 15th
Annual Marketers’ Night at the Aqua
Lounge. This night is notorious for
its networking opportunities, as well

as for the valuable presentations by

marketers of different companies
about what it’s like to have a career in
the marketing field,
This year’s event was a huge suc-
cess with more than 250 attendees:
over 100 of them being business pro-
fessionals, Tie were Thre speakers

   
 
 

wo Ma

Breweries; and Ste
Promotions Director ‘or CityTV. All
three speakers entertained the crowd
with interesting and informational
facts about everyday life in the mar-
keting field. All of the attendees got
the chance to watch selected com-

 

what makes an ad great!

 

 

  
  
    

: “filled ‘wih acclaimed speakers, quality
networking opportunities, and great

_ campus. New members ate always
-mercials from each company and see - :

 
 

cee treated all the attendees to

Marketer's Night 2004:
“The Allure of Cool”

50 percent less sugar. There were
also a few networking sessions and
activities where everyone got the
chance to meet new people and net-
work with business professionals. It
was a great opportunity for everyone
to meet new friends, contacts, and
potential employers. There were also
many door prizes, genrously donated
by Rogers Wireless, Ipsos-Reid, CN
Imax Theatre, Planet Laser and
Quetec,, just to

 
 
  
 

 

cess, and on belalt
of the Marketing Student Society, I
would like to_ thank everyone for

attending,
The oo held by the MSS

  
     
 

 

exciting night will be

food. To learn more about us and our
events, feel free to drop by a weekly
meeting held on Thursday nights at
6pm in room 5220 in the New West

   
 
 
 
    

OUHEPPPeSS |